BlogCatalog - December Newsletter

Hi Sony Saputro Eko N This past year was a good one for the BlogCatalog community. We have seen the community grow as more and more talented bloggers have joined our ranks. The site itself saw some design upgrades and additions like the new Tools Section. And, new connections with sites like BrooWaha and HalfHourMeals have provided bloggers with more places to showcase their writing. We?ve had a great year and we want to thank you for being a part of it all! This Issue: Complying With New FTC Disclosure Regulations • Fight For Preemies Reaches 3M Readers • Upcoming Events • Five Tips For Improving Your Blog In The New Year • Thanks For A Great 2009 Blogosphere News: FTC Disclosure Policies Go Into Effect As of December 1, 2009, new FTC guidelines went into effect requiring bloggers to disclose any time they are compensated for endorsing or reviewing products or services. Bloggers should now be disclosing any time they receive payment, free products or services, or perks in return for a post on their blogs. Also any relationship with a company or organization that can be viewed as creating a conflict of interest should be disclosed. It is also a good idea to add disclosures to any past posts that still receive a decent amount of traffic. Learn More About Disclosures BlogCatalog Quick Tip Add a video to your blog. It?s a great way for your readers to get to know you a bit better and it?s simpler than ever. Check the BlogCatalog Tools section for video blogging tools like Wetoku. 5 Quick & Easy Tips For Improving Your Blog 1. Purchase your own domain. This will dramatically increase your design and functionality options. 2. Connect with other bloggers. Forming these connections can help inspire you, get you over hurdles and provide a sounding board for new ideas. 3. Try a new theme. While content is king, looks are important too. Catch readers? attention with a slick new theme. 4. Find clarity. Clearly defining the purpose of your blog will make decisions about content and design simpler. 5. Always be writing. Good writers are always writing. It keeps your mind limber and gives you a stock pile of good post ideas. Fight For Preemies Reaches An Audience of 3M Readers On November 17, 13,200 bloggers from across the globe participated in BloggersUnite: Fight For Preemies. Their posts about the rising rates of premature births raised the awareness of approximately 3 million readers. Through a mix of sobering facts, statistics and moving personal accounts, these bloggers poignantly illustrated the impact premature births have on both the individuals involved and on our society as a whole. Learn More Follow Us Online! Upcoming Events Online Community Unconference February 10. The Online Community Unconference East is a gathering of online community professionals - managers, developers, business people, tool providers, investors - to discuss experience and strategies in the development and growth of online communities. onlinecommunityreport.com SXSW Interactive March 12-16. SXSW Interactive features five days of compelling presentations from the brightest minds in emerging technology, scores of exciting networking events hosted by industry leaders and an unbeatable line up of special programs. sxsw.com BlogWorld Expo 2010 October 14-16. If you are serious about your content quality, if you want to increase your readership, viewership and audience you cannot afford to miss BlogWorld. blogworldexpo.com Thank You for A Great Year In 2009 2009 was a busy and productive year for the BlogCatalog team. It was a year in which we met some great new friends who have helped guide us and inspire us as we continue to improve our community, and one in which we saw continuing support from some old friends too. For this we are grateful. A big thank you to Rich Becker and Copywrite Ink for the time and energy you have put into making our BloggersUnite events successful. Your wisdom and your insights are invaluable to our team. Thank you for all the great work you have done. Also, thank you to Selina Jane Eckersall for your ideas and guidance over the last year. They have provided clarity of purpose as we move forward and test new ideas. And, last but not least, thank you to our members without whom none of the work we do would be possible. We hope you had a great year and look forward to seeing what the next one brings!
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